The Braves claimed infielder Elliot Johnson from the Royals on Wednesday to provide veteran depth on the infield. Johnson, who has played second base, third base and shortstop and both corner outfield positions with the Royals this season, will join the Braves on Thursday in St. Louis.
The Braves are thin in the middle infield with Dan Uggla on the disabled list following laser eye surgery and Tyler Pastornicky having undergone season-ending knee surgery. The Braves called up Phil Gosselin from Triple-A Gwinnett when Pastornicky got hurt, but he could be on his way back now with Johnson’s arrival.
The Braves plan to make two roster moves Thursday when they arrive in St. Louis, one for Johnson and one for Paul Maholm, who’ll come off the disabled list to start.
Johnson hit .176 for Kansas City, which put him through release waivers Monday after designating him for assignment last week. The 29-year-old played parts of his first three major league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, before joining the Royals this season. He played 57 games at second for the Royals, eight at shortstop, four at third, two in right field and one in left.
“I know he’s a good player,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He’s a guy who gives us some depth in the infield. Guy can steal you a base, switch-hitter.”
Uggla eager: Uggla said he didn't notice that much of a difference with his eyes when he took batting practice Tuesday for the first time since laser surgery, and really he couldn't. His biggest issue at the plate was recognizing breaking balls and fastballs up and in, and he's not going to see a lot of that in batting practice.
“Even fastballs that were like up, I felt like they were a lot closer to me than when I’d go watch them on video,” Uggla said of his early-season problems. “I’d be like ‘Man, I felt like that ball was like literally right over my head, and it was over the plate.’”
A follow-up appointment revealed Uggla’s vision had improved from about 20/30 to 20/15, he said. The biggest difference he notices now is being able to read the sports ticker on the TV screen, little things such as that. His bigger test will be when he faces live pitching again on a minor league rehabilitation assignment.
Uggla will travel with the Braves to St. Louis and likely will take another round or two of batting practice. He’s expected to fly home to Atlanta to have his eyes checked one final time before heading out on a rehab assignment. He’s eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 28.
Uggla is hitting a career-low .186 and ranks third in the National League in strikeouts, with 146. He knows he’s got work to do at the plate, even with his vision much improved and without having to worry about finding the right contact prescription.
“I’ve still got to do it physically,” Uggla said. “Just getting my eyes fixed is not just going to cure everything. I’ve still got to work. I’ve still got to prepare and keep working on my swing and be on time, but hopefully with this, it’ll help me with all that.”
He looks forward to feeling more confident at the plate.
“It was so hard to be consistent, go up and one at-bat I would see good,” Uggla said. “… Another at-bat it’d just be like ‘Oh man, where it is, there are two pitchers out there almost.’ …
“It’ll be that much more of a confidence-builder, just being like ‘All right, this is what I got, no excuses,’” Uggla said. “Throw it out there and strap it on, let’s see what happens.”
Smoltz advice: As seamless a comeback as Brandon Beachy has made returning from Tommy John surgery, with four consecutive quality starts since his seven-run outing against the Rockies, he is still working to get a feel for his slider.
It’s a common problem for pitchers coming off elbow surgery, and Beachy knew just who to go to for some advice on how to handle it. He approached former Brave John Smoltz, now an analyst for MLB Network, when the Braves were playing the Nationals in Washington a couple of weeks ago.
“He has one of the best sliders in the game,” Beachy said. “And he dealt with what I’m dealing with.”
Smoltz demonstrated his follow-through on the slider as he and Beachy talked, and Beachy said Smoltz gave him some ideas of mental cues he can use.
“He told me, like pretty much everyone else, it’s pretty much the last thing that comes, the feel for the breaking ball,” Beachy said. “He had a few things that I can key on in my mind while I’m throwing it to try to help me.”
Beachy struggled to command his slider his first start back, against the Rockies, while throwing 19 sliders in 84 pitches. So he backed off it, over his next two starts, throwing only two in 98 pitches against the Phillies and three in 99 pitches against the Marlins.
But he made a point to work it back in for 10 of his 81 pitches against the Phillies. And Tuesday night against the Mets, Beachy threw only three sliders in his 86 pitches, but he got quality results with all of them — a called strike, a swinging strike and a ground out.
“The more I throw it the more I can feel it coming off my fingers out in front,” Beachy said. “A month ago, I’d throw it, but I couldn’t tell the difference between a good one and a bad one out of my hand. Usually you can tell immediately. I’m getting closer to that.”
Etc.: Justin Upton missed his second consecutive game with a strain in his upper back Wednesday, but said he expects to be back for the Cardinals series. Gonzalez said Upton would have been available to pinch hit Wednesday if needed. Upton first felt his back tighten up taking swings in the indoor cages before batting practice Tuesday. … First-base coach Terry Pendleton left during Wednesday's game in New York to fly to his sister's funeral. Pendleton's sister Debra Bradford died Monday.
